Spring 2015

The Synod on the Family, which may have begun and even concluded by the time you read this article, has caused a stir. Bishops have publicly differed about some topics to be discussed in it, priests have taken up petitions, and journalists wondered if it might divide the Church. If family life is a happy topic, the Synod has strangely put frowns on many faces. Why is this so?

Pope Francis’ worldwide prayer networkThe Apostleship of Prayer receives monthly prayer intentions from the Pope and urges Christians throughout the world to unite in prayer for those intentions. Thus we all become part of an international Community of Prayer

27th Sunday Year BGenesis 2: 18–24, Mark 10: 2–16The Genesis story of the creation of Eve can suggest that the first human was male, and his need for companionship brought about the creation of woman. This reflects a Jewish prejudice at the time of man’s superiority over woman. This prejudice is not found in Jesus. For him, women and men stand together as equals before God. Their companionship is truly mutual and life-giving for each other

Driving home from hospital with our first child, James, I heard my wife say, ‘Did you click his seat belt?’ Pulling over, I was struck by the realisation that from now on my first thought would be about someone other than me

‘You are privileged.’ My friend smacks me in the face with this statement. I had been extolling the virtues of travel and sagely explaining that all young people should take a year to see the world. My ever-blunt friend (quite rightly) reminded me that this isn’t a possibility for many people. They may have medical expenses for themselves or their family, debt, or they may have to support their younger sibling’s education. To travel is a luxury

Will ye go, Lassie go: Celebrating the life of Sr Bridget Harley D.C., ed Sr Maeve O’Brien, D.C., Blue Mountain Education and Research Trust, ISBN 978 0 9941555 04.

Bernini’s The Ecstasy of St Teresa depicts a saint who is alive to the present moment, able to let God take her breath away

Listening to stories about how others have found their vocation can help us discover our own calling, says Beth Dohert

I pen this editorial on a superb day at Sevenhill where, as one retreatant has quipped, the Australian Jesuits’ DNA resides. As so often happens, I am writing with the light of some inspiration I have just received on the Combined Jesuit School Councils’ Retreat

Do you love me?